Little Zach's E.R. Moments

Last week was a hell of a week for me. Aside from having a very terrible case of morning sickness, my little Zach was very sick too. My little one's fever has been on and off for a week and he's coughing like a barking dog (yeah it sounded that BAD).

Anyway, last Thursday he woke up in the middle of the night and was crying about the pain on his tummy. I already had the feeling that it could have been the stubborn POOP (no, he's not constipated but he poops like an adult...meaning it comes out BIG and long...kkkkk), but seeing him cringe in pain while shouting " Mama, 아퍼! (A-po...meaning IT HURTS!)", made me wake up my hubby so we can rush little Zach to the nearest hospital. After getting an x-ray and getting a consultation with St. Mary's Hospital's  E.R. pediatrician, we found out that little Zach had a couple of poops that needed to get out. He was given some kind of medicine so he could poop right away. After a couple of minutes inside the comfort room, little Zach left the E.R. with a big smile on his face and was happily blowing off flying kisses to everyone at the emergency room....kkkkk. How I wish the story ended there but there's more.

The next day I woke up in the middle of the night because I could hear little Zach shivering, I checked his temperature but there was no fever. Thinking that he was just COLD I covered him up with his blanket but he didn't stop from shivering. I woke up my hubby (in case you're wondering my hubby sleeps like a LOG....unless you HIT him on the face he wouldn't be aware of what's happening around him....a complete opposite of how I sleep, I always wake up with the slightest disturbing sound around me) and insisted that we had to rush little Zach to the E.R. again. On our way to the hospital, little Zach stopped shivering after sweating buckets so we decided to just head back home and let little Zach take a rest. At home, he started to have fever but as soon as I gave him the medicine for it he felt better. So we went back to bed and charged everything to experience.

 

However, later on that day (whew that's Friday!) my little one started shivering again and this time he was so HOT. I called my husband and informed him that I will bring little Zach to his pediatrician. But, the pediatrician advised me to bring little Zach to Uijeongbu's St.Mary's Hospital right away because his fever had been on and off for a very long time already and the sound of his cough is not getting any better too. So I rushed little Zach to the bigger hospital and after several examinations he was diagnosed with a slight PNEUMONIA.I said slight because the doctor said it wasn't that bad and proper medication can help my little one get better soon. But, there's a catch.....little Zach's fever should be completely gone in 2 days or else he will be admitted at the hospital. In order to help little Zach get over his fever, the doctor gave instructions for little Zach to have an I.V. for 5 hours. While my hubby rushed back to his company to finish his work (he's off to Turkey this week....tsk tsk tsk!), I stayed with little Zach. Since I was still having trouble with my terrible case of morning sickness I kept running to the nearest restroom to throw up so I had to ask the nurse in charge to look after my little prince. I was very tired and I had no one to rely  on....but I'm very glad that my little Zach is feeling better now. He still has a couple of check-ups left this week and a couple of medicines to take but at least the fever is GONE and I hope it will be gone for good. I don't think I can manage rushing little Zach to the E.R. alone while my hubby is off to a very long business trip to Turkey. I'm keeping my fingers crossed....I hope this week will be a very HEALTHY and SAFE week for me and little Zach....well, of course that doesn't include my battle with morning sickness.....kkkkk.

My 2nd Pregnancy journey begins....

The moment I found out I was pregnant again, I was speechless for the whole day. I couldn't sort out my feelings, I couldn't figure out if I was happy, sad, scared, or whatever. The only memory that came rushing to my mind is my endless battle with nausea or morning sickness. I'm one of the few pregnant moms(I say FEW because I haven't met anyone who had a similar battle with morning sickness like I did....oh well except for my mom I guess) who continued to battle morning sickness even until the last month of their pregnancy. In my case, I kept throwing up even on the very day that I was going to give birth to my little Zach. These memories reminded me that I have to prepare myself for another battle. How I wish I could just be like my friends who had no trouble with morning sickness, who could eat whatever they want and still enjoy the actual taste of the food without worrying whether the food they just ate could actually stay for more than 10 minutes inside their tummies. How I wish I could drink water and fruit juices without worrying if it can actually stay in my body for even just 5 minutes.....whew~. I wish for so many things but I guess the difficulties that I have to face during my pregnancy would be all worth it when I finally hold the baby in my arms.

Anyway, I've always been in the look out for any method that can alleviate the severity of my morning sickness (melting ice cubes in your mouth,  eating crackers, etc.) but every method I found gave me no amount of comfort at all. While searching for other information on morning sickness, I came across PSI bands. PSI bands(pronounced as "SIGH bands") are drug free acupressure wrist bands that gives relief to nausea caused by morning sickness (pregnancy), motion sickness, chemotherapy, and even anesthesia. This acupressure wrist band has been so popular in the United States that even Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey featured it in their respective magazines.

I thought I should give this a try and so I spent an entire day searching for the exclusive distributor of PSI bands in Korea. I could buy it easily in any of Korea's online shops but I was glad I decided to buy it directly from PSI bands exclusive distributor because the bands would have been 69,000 won if I bought it in the online shops ( I bought it for 55,000 won, it was actually on sale in the exclusive distributor's website...kkkkk). The product got delivered today and I'm already wearing it, I'm really keeping my fingers crossed....I hope this one will work so I that I can finally enjoy my pregnancy. Wish me luck.

Little Zach's HAIR CUT day

 After visiting little Zach's pediatrician, I decided it was time for Zach's monthly hair cut. On our way to the barber shop I told little Zach that he's going to have his hair cut....he responded with "Hair cut? Okay!". To my surprise he was really very cooperative this time around, probably because there were less customers at the barber shop. After his hair cut, I told him he was a VERY GOOD boy, little Zach smiled at me and checked how he looked at the mirror...hahahaha.

FILIPINO Fairy Tales on Korean TV

*After my usual web hopping chores, I found this useful information at the Philippine embassy website. Please check it out so your kids could enjoy Filipino culture even if they are in Korea.

Filipino Fairy Tales on Korean TV
By: Woongjin Foundation

Please be informed that the Woonjin Foundation has recently produced 10 animations relating to the Philippine traditional fairy tales. Hereunder is the full text of the letter from Chairman Shin, Hyon Ung of the Woongjin Foundation:

H.E. Luis Teodoro Cruz
Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines
Dear Ambassador Cruz,
I write to thank you for your help and advice on the Woongjin Foundation's activities. We can provide multicultural broadcasting successfully due to your support. Now, we are going to expand our activities further.

As you may know, the Woongjin Foundation has been running multicultural broadcasting for multicultural society in Korea. In this regard, I am particularly glad to inform your Excellency that we have recently produced 10 animations relating to the Philippines traditional fairy tales in both Philippines and Korean languages. These animations are produced for the purpose of helping Philippines-Korean children to learn and understand their motherland's culture and language. In addition, these animations will also provide other Korean children with opportunities to understand Philippine culture.

The broadcast of fairy tales can be seen on TV at IPTV (Qook, Ch. 620 and 621), Cable TV ( C & M, 811 and 812) and Skylife ( Ch. 855 and 856). For more information, please visit our website at www.wjf.kr.
Again, I would appreciate your encouragement and support.

I wish all the best to Your Excellency and your family.
Sincerely yours,

Shin, Hyon Ung
Chairman of the Woongjin Foundation
(Signed)

There's a BUN in the OVEN for me

What a nice way to celebrate my blog's 3rd Anniversary! There's a bun in the oven for me.....kkkk. It was unexpected...so I was really SPEECHLESS yesterday. I was suddenly faced with tons of worries that has to be dealt with ASAP for the sake of little Zach's future baby brother or sister. Anyway, it was a welcome surprise and I guess it's my turn to have my own baby shower....kkkk.

Surviving Korea's 3rd Blog Anniversary WINNER is.....

Surviving Korea's 3rd Blog Anniversary Winner is.....comment #11 from ZARYNE. Please send me your complete name and address so that I can send you the prizes right away. Congratulations!

Reason to Panic

The recent tragedy (earthquake, tsunami, and radiation leak) in Japan is causing me a lot of worries and it's making my husband worry more than I do. We both agree that if it was just the two of us maybe we could take things lightly but now that we have little Zach we can't just sit around and wait for things to get worse. Our son is our reason to panic.

We've been talking a lot about the future situation of Korea in relation to Japan's radiation problem. My husband is even thinking of relocating the family to the Philippines or any other country that will prove to be safer than Korea. He's very concerned about the possible water shortage and contamination in Korea not just because of the radiation leak in Japan but also because of the recent foot and mouth disease that infected farm animals all over Korea (the farm animals were buried underground but the government failed to anticipate the effects that such actions could bring to the water supply of the country). So, during last night's grocery trip my husband suddenly insisted on buying packs of bottled water and a couple of kilos of salt(SALT comes from sea water and if Korea's sea water gets contaminated by radioactive materials then the salt supply of Korea will also get affected). He argued that we should at least have a couple of day's supply for the sake of little Zach.

It's not just my husband who is on the verge of panic, during our grocery trip I also witnessed Korean moms rushing to buy rain gear (rain coat, rain boots, and umbrellas) for their kids (Tomorrow is going to be a rainy day but unlike any other rainy day, there's a possibility that  it's going to be a radioactive rain such information prompted me to buy the necessary rain gear for little Zach too) and I also witnessed a lot of people buying salt and bottled water. Even the supermarket clerks are constantly refilling the shelves with salt and bottled water.

People in Korea are starting to worry and the lack on information from the government on this matter is giving the people a reason to panic. People argue that the only thing that the Korean government do is to assure that everything will be alright but the government doesn't do anything to help people protect themselves from the radiation leak. The government is firm on its statement that the direction of the radioactive wind from Japan is not going towards Korea and even if we are exposed to the radiation leak it's not going to pose a threat to our health. This is in absolute contrast to the findings made by the Norwegian Institute of Air Research and the German weather agency. Lack of information can hurt more people...truth can help people prepare for the worst scenario.

Happy 3rd Blog Anniversary Contest

I have all these gadgets on my blog and just last night I noticed one gadget that surprised me.....my blog has actually a few days left until it's 3rd Blog Anniversary! Wow! I never thought I could maintain a blog this long...kkkk.

Anyway, Surviving Korea has been my outlet for all those times that I felt happy, excited, irritated, sick, angry, and even depressed with my stay in Korea. I've written various articles about my life in Korea and Korea as a whole. This blog has been my best friend for quite some time now and I also believe that keeping this blog allowed me to help other people in one way or the other. So, what better way to celebrate SURVIVING KOREA's 3rd Blog Anniversary than to put up a contest for all my readers out there(Yeah, I know some of you are silently lurking around my blog but still feels  too SHY to post a comment or two...kkkk). So here's how the contest will go.

• Choose your favorite post in Surviving Korea and write about it in your own blog OR you can share it in your Facebook/Twitter page.
• After that, post your name and the link of your blog post/Facebook/Twitter page wherein you mentioned/shared about SURVIVING KOREA on the comment section of this page.
• Anyone can join, this contest will close on April 13, 2011 at 11:59 pm Korean time. The winner of this contest will be announced on April 14, 2011....Surviving Korea's 3rd Blog Anniversary!
• PRIZE: 1 Korean inspired passport cover and 2 Korean inspired luggage tags. Check the picture below (Aren't they cute? I just loved them so I also bought 2 for little Zach and one for me...kkkk)

• I will choose the winner using a Random Number Picker.

Sandara Park's SOLO CF for Etude House

Sandara Park is really a rising star in Korea. In the past she used to appear in advertisements for different brands in Korea with the other members of 2NE1. However, even back then I already noticed that Sandara would always be the center of attention in the CF's storyline. Aside from that, Sandara's image would always appear bigger than the other 2NE1 members even in the print ads/posters.



Recently, Etude House even featured Sandara in her OWN CF for two ETUDE HOUSE products, the Miss Tangerine line and the Precious Minerals Sheer Glowing BB Cream.










Sandara's NATURAL beauty is such a big hit with Koreans that she's slowly making her way to be the next CF Queen of Korea. The Pambansang KRUNG-KRUNG of Philippine entertainment is really making BIG waves in her own country. Congratulations SANDARA!